Thursday, 9 July 2009

South into The Gulf

After putting the lines out for only half an hour he managed to snag a big Spanish mackerel. Being Queenslands top table fish we gave it a good workout and Thyme was quickly turned into a fish factory. We bottled fish, pickled fish, marinated, smoked, Tunisian style, fish cakes and fish and chips are only but a few of the meals we made. The rest we had to give away!

With light winds we tried to make our way south, a sail in the morning followed a few hours motoring at lunch then we gave up selecting an anchorage anywhere we could along the Eastern Gulf shore stopping at Vrilya Pt, Skardon River, Pennefather River then onto Weipa. We were so focused on the tides and currents around the top end and the Torres Straights we really didn’t realize how important they would be down here and most days cursed the northern ebb which just about stopped us dead.

The deserted shoreline was great for exploring and we found wild cattle, pigs, many birds, crabs and lizards. Oh and of course we were able to pick through the interesting array of rubbish washed up along the beaches. I always thought the waters of the Gulf would be murky and brown – but they’re not. It was clear, clean and beautiful aqua. With all the cruising boats well on their way to Darwin heading for Indonesia, we now had the coast to ourselves, us and Sloop!